Cairo – An Egyptian court has banned an annual festival in honour of Moroccan rabbi that was regularly attended by hundreds of Jewish pilgrims, mainly from Israel and Morocco.

After the 1979 peace treaty with Israel, Egypt began allowing organized trips to the tomb of Yaakov Abu Hatzira in the Nile Delta north of Cairo. The Culture Ministry declared the site an Egyptian monument.

The Administrative Court of Alexandria on Monday banned the visits and stripped the ministry’s designation. It acted on a complaint filed by local residents who objected to the mingling of men and women and the consumption of alcohol at the festival.

– AP

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